The Old Gentlemen

"The Old Gentlemen" is a significant color lithograph created in 1894 by the French master, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901). As a prolific figure in the fin-de-siècle Parisian art scene, Toulouse-Lautrec championed the use of printmaking, elevating the medium from commercial application to a high art form. This piece is executed as a color lithograph on cream wove paper, a technique chosen for its capacity to render subtle textural details and the rich, layered hues characteristic of the 1890s print revival in France.

Toulouse-Lautrec was renowned for his incisive, almost ethnographic observations of Parisian society. While famous for capturing the spectacle of the Moulin Rouge and its performers, works like The Old Gentlemen reveal his equal interest in the quiet, perhaps melancholy, corners of daily life. The composition focuses intimately on unnamed elderly figures, rendered with the artist’s characteristic minimal, fluid lines and flattened areas of color. He successfully conveys both character and mood through economic means, utilizing the lithographic process to achieve soft contours that contrast with the often harsh outlines of his more famous posters.

This sophisticated study exemplifies Toulouse-Lautrec’s lasting legacy as a brilliant chronicler of modern French culture. The work, classified formally as a print, remains an important artifact from the peak of late 19th-century graphic innovation. Many of the artist's finest prints, depicting scenes that defined contemporary life in France, are now featured prominently in major collections. This impression of the color lithograph is held in the renowned collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, securing its place as a valuable document of the period.